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ezzy1986

instant ocean sea salt got damp

Ezzy1986
18 years ago

my instant ocean sea salt got damp because i didn't seal it properly. i'm now trying to mix up a batch of water and there is lots of salty looking particles. is this normal? i haven't noticed before... or is it because the salt got damp?

Can I put this water in my aquarium or should I wait to get some new sea salt?

Comments (7)

  • woeisme
    18 years ago

    As long as specific gravity is in range, it should be OK. Make sure the particles are just not dissolved salt.

  • james_ny
    18 years ago

    Think of it as pre mixed.

  • raul_in_mexico
    18 years ago

    LOL James !

    Yes you can add that water to your tank, what I recommend is to have another tank or a clean trash bin with a powerhead to do the mixing for 24 hours prior to adding the water to the aquarium, that way the salt gets completely dissolved including the cacium carbonate that makes the water look milky when you mix the salt and water.

  • Ezzy1986
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    i put the water in
    and my fish are dying
    my two clowns are lying on their sides floating on the top of the water
    my hawkfish has become uncharacteristically still
    its 4am and my lfs doesn't open until 10:30 and i have no salt to mix with freshwater
    i'm pretty much watching them die
    i removed them to a bucked with what i THINK was the old water... but there isn't enough water in it to use my hydrometer....
    they are all still looking sickly and have been in this water for like 7 and a half hours (since i put the salt water in that had heaps of white particles)

    i checked the salinity in the tank before i removed them to the bucket and it was fine

    i must have introduced something else

  • skygee
    18 years ago

    I have absolutely zero experience with saltwater tanks/fish. But just wanted to say I'm sorry that you're fish are not doing well. I hope something can be done!

    I can only relay an experience I had with shubunkin and koi that I brought in for the winter one year. I had gone away for a couple of weeks and my mom was instructed to feed them (lightly) every day. Little did she know that the pump got clogged somehow, and the filter failed. I came home to two dead koi, one jumped out, and two floating gasping. I was able to save the two by immediately putting them in fresh water in a bucket with a bubbler going. Eventually they righted themselves and behaved more normally. Essentially they were swimming in their own built up waste. The water was totally gross. Those fish lived for another 10 years (when both died due to introduction of a plant into the pond that I thought was fish safe and wasn't).

    So maybe your fish may have a chance? Like I said, I don't know anything about saltwater fish. I feel bad about what you're going through right now.

  • raul_in_mexico
    18 years ago

    You don´t need an hydrometer you need a scale to weight and prepare new water to perform water changes, the density of the water is inversely proportional to the water temperature so hydrometer readings are not accurate. The correct ammount of salt is 32 grams per liter of water, also never ever add freshly prepared water to the tank, specially if it still looks milky, when it´s milky it means that the calcium carbonate hasn´t disssolved yet, it´s still active and if it touches anything it will cause a burn.

  • james_ny
    18 years ago

    Ezzy, How much water did you change and how much water is in the tank. If the salinity stayed the same your ph may have risen with the water change. This can happen if regular water changes weren't being done or overfeeding. Fish can adjust to changing ph but not rapidly. I'm sorry for your loss.

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